My Little Chickadee
Encyclopedia
My Little Chickadee is a Universal
comedy
/western
motion picture
starring Mae West
and W. C. Fields
, with Joseph Calleia
, Ruth Donnelly
, Margaret Hamilton
, Donald Meek
, Willard Robertson
, Dick Foran
, George Moran, William B. Davidson
, and Addison Richards
. It was directed
by Edward F. Cline
. The original music was written by Ben Oakland
(song "Willie of the Valley") and Frank Skinner
.
West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar. Universal decided to give the stars equal screenplay credit, perhaps to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but the move incensed West, who declined to re-team with Fields afterwards. The stars spoofed themselves and the Western genre
, with West providing a series of her trademark double entendre
s.
of the 1880s. Miss Flower Belle Lee (Mae West
) is a singer from Chicago
who is on her way to visit relatives out west. While she is traveling on a stagecoach with three men and a woman named Mrs. Gideon (Margaret Hamilton
), the town gossip and busybody, a masked bandit on horseback holds up the stage for its shipment of gold and orders the passengers to step out.
The masked bandit immediately takes an interest in the saucy blonde. As he makes his getaway with the gold, he takes her with him. Upon reaching Little Bend, the others report the robbery and kidnapping to the sheriff (William B. Davidson). Flower Belle then walks into town, unharmed, and explains, "I was in a tight spot but I managed to wriggle out of it."
Later that evening, at the home of her Aunt Lou (Ruth Donnelly
) and Uncle John (Willard Robertson
), the masked bandit enters Flower Belle's second floor bedroom and they start kissing. However, his presence and departure is witnessed by Mrs. Gideon. She quickly reports what she has seen and Flower Belle angrily finds herself hauled up before the judge (Addison Richards
). Flower Belle is then run out of Little Bend.
She boards a train to Greasewood City. It makes an unscheduled stop to pick up con-man Cuthbert J. Twillie (W. C. Fields
). When hostile Indians attack, Flower Belle saunters to a window and mows them down with two pistols, while Twillie dodges flying arrows and fights off the Indians with a child's slingshot
. Flower Belle has little use for Twillie until she sees a stash of money in his bag. Believing him to be rich, she then plays up to him and they get acquainted. They have an impromptu wedding, officiated over by a passenger, Amos Budge (Donald Meek
), a gambler who looks like a minister.
As she has only pretended to marry Twillie for "respectability", Flower Belle gets a separate hotel room in Greasewood City. Meanwhile, Twillie is made sheriff by the saloon owner and town boss Jeff Badger (Joseph Calleia
), who has an ulterior motive. Flower Belle attracts the attention of Badger, newspaper editor Wayne Carter (Dick Foran
), and every other man in town. While keeping her troublesome "husband" out of reach and out of trouble, Flower Belle encounters the masked bandit again.
One night, Twillie enters Flower Belle's room disguised as the masked bandit. He is accused of being the masked bandit, and is about to be hanged. With the noose around his neck, he makes his last request to the lynching party. "I'd like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do!" However, Flower Belle saves Twillie. At one point, she and Badger had kissed, and from that, she recognizes that he is the masked bandit.
When Flower Belle and Twillie say good-bye, West and Fields spoof each other's signature line.
"Come up and see me sometime", he says.
"Mmm, I will, my little chickadee", she replies.
As Flower Belle sashays up the stairs, "The End" is playfully overlaid on her posterior.
, despite only mediocre reviews from critics. It grossed upwards of $20 million in the United States
alone, an outstanding amount at the time.
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
/western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
and W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, with Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
, Ruth Donnelly
Ruth Donnelly
Ruth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....
, Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
, Donald Meek
Donald Meek
Donald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
, Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
, Dick Foran
Dick Foran
John Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
, George Moran, William B. Davidson
William B. Davidson
William B. Davidson was an American film actor. He attended Columbia University where he played football. He became a popular football star. This fame eventually led to his foray into motion pictures after he had spent some time as a lawyer...
, and Addison Richards
Addison Richards
Addison Richards was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1933 and 1964. He died from a heart attack...
. It was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Edward F. Cline
Edward F. Cline
Edward Francis Cline was a screenwriter, actor, writer and director. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and died in Hollywood.-Career:...
. The original music was written by Ben Oakland
Ben Oakland
Ben Oakland was an American composer, lyricist and pianist most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed mainly for Broadway and vaudeville, though he also worked on several Hollywood scores including for the film My Little Chickadee.Oakland often composed music only, collaborating...
(song "Willie of the Valley") and Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner (composer)
Frank Skinner was an American composer and arranger.Skinner was born in Meredosia, Illinois. A graduate of the Chicago Musical College , 16-year-old Frank found employment in vaudeville and began playing in local areas with his brother Carl on drums...
.
West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar. Universal decided to give the stars equal screenplay credit, perhaps to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but the move incensed West, who declined to re-team with Fields afterwards. The stars spoofed themselves and the Western genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, with West providing a series of her trademark double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s.
Plot
The story is set in the American Old WestAmerican Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
of the 1880s. Miss Flower Belle Lee (Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
) is a singer from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
who is on her way to visit relatives out west. While she is traveling on a stagecoach with three men and a woman named Mrs. Gideon (Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
), the town gossip and busybody, a masked bandit on horseback holds up the stage for its shipment of gold and orders the passengers to step out.
The masked bandit immediately takes an interest in the saucy blonde. As he makes his getaway with the gold, he takes her with him. Upon reaching Little Bend, the others report the robbery and kidnapping to the sheriff (William B. Davidson). Flower Belle then walks into town, unharmed, and explains, "I was in a tight spot but I managed to wriggle out of it."
Later that evening, at the home of her Aunt Lou (Ruth Donnelly
Ruth Donnelly
Ruth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....
) and Uncle John (Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
), the masked bandit enters Flower Belle's second floor bedroom and they start kissing. However, his presence and departure is witnessed by Mrs. Gideon. She quickly reports what she has seen and Flower Belle angrily finds herself hauled up before the judge (Addison Richards
Addison Richards
Addison Richards was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1933 and 1964. He died from a heart attack...
). Flower Belle is then run out of Little Bend.
She boards a train to Greasewood City. It makes an unscheduled stop to pick up con-man Cuthbert J. Twillie (W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
). When hostile Indians attack, Flower Belle saunters to a window and mows them down with two pistols, while Twillie dodges flying arrows and fights off the Indians with a child's slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
. Flower Belle has little use for Twillie until she sees a stash of money in his bag. Believing him to be rich, she then plays up to him and they get acquainted. They have an impromptu wedding, officiated over by a passenger, Amos Budge (Donald Meek
Donald Meek
Donald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
), a gambler who looks like a minister.
As she has only pretended to marry Twillie for "respectability", Flower Belle gets a separate hotel room in Greasewood City. Meanwhile, Twillie is made sheriff by the saloon owner and town boss Jeff Badger (Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
), who has an ulterior motive. Flower Belle attracts the attention of Badger, newspaper editor Wayne Carter (Dick Foran
Dick Foran
John Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
), and every other man in town. While keeping her troublesome "husband" out of reach and out of trouble, Flower Belle encounters the masked bandit again.
One night, Twillie enters Flower Belle's room disguised as the masked bandit. He is accused of being the masked bandit, and is about to be hanged. With the noose around his neck, he makes his last request to the lynching party. "I'd like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do!" However, Flower Belle saves Twillie. At one point, she and Badger had kissed, and from that, she recognizes that he is the masked bandit.
When Flower Belle and Twillie say good-bye, West and Fields spoof each other's signature line.
"Come up and see me sometime", he says.
"Mmm, I will, my little chickadee", she replies.
As Flower Belle sashays up the stairs, "The End" is playfully overlaid on her posterior.
Cast
- W. C. FieldsW. C. FieldsWilliam Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
as Cuthbert J. Twillie - Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
as Flower Belle Lee - Joseph CalleiaJoseph CalleiaJoseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
as Jeff Badger - Joseph CalleiaJoseph CalleiaJoseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
as Masked Bandit - Dick ForanDick ForanJohn Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
as Wayne Carter - Margaret HamiltonMargaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
as Mrs. Gideon - Gene AustinGene AustinGene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
as Saloon Musician - Fuzzy KnightFuzzy KnightJohn Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight was an American film and television actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1929 and 1967, usually as a cowboy hero's sidekick.-Biography:...
as Cousin Zeb - Anne NagelAnne NagelAnne Nagel was an American actress. She played in adventures, mysteries, and comedies for twenty-five years. She also appeared in television series in the 1950s.-Career:...
as Miss Foster - Ruth DonnellyRuth DonnellyRuth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....
as Aunt Lou - Willard RobertsonWillard RobertsonWillard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
as Uncle John - Donald MeekDonald MeekDonald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
as Amos Budge - William B. DavidsonWilliam B. DavidsonWilliam B. Davidson was an American film actor. He attended Columbia University where he played football. He became a popular football star. This fame eventually led to his foray into motion pictures after he had spent some time as a lawyer...
as Sheriff - Addison RichardsAddison RichardsAddison Richards was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1933 and 1964. He died from a heart attack...
as Judge - And Jackie SearlJackie SearlJackie Searl was an American child actor who began performing on a local Los Angeles radio at the age of three...
, Morgan WallaceMorgan WallaceMorgan Wallace , was an American actor. He appeared in 28 films between 1914 and 1946, including It's a Gift and My Little Chickadee starring W.C. Fields and Mae West....
, Wade BotelerWade BotelerWade Boteler was an American film actor. He appeared in over 430 films between 1919 and 1943.He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
, Walter McGrailWalter McGrailWalter McGrail was an American film actor. He appeared in over 150 films between 1916 and 1951.He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in San Francisco, California, at the age of 81.-Selected filmography:...
, Otto HoffmanOtto HoffmanOtto Hoffman was an American film actor. He appeared in 199 films between 1915 and 1944.He was born in New York and died in Los Angeles, California from lung cancer.-Selected filmography:* The Haunted Bedroom...
, William BenedictWilliam BenedictWilliam Benedict was an American actor. Born in Haskell, Oklahoma, he took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood. His first film was $10 Raise starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched Benedict on a busy career...
, Delmar WatsonDelmar WatsonDavid Delmar Watson was an American child actor and news photographer.-Biography:He was the son of actor, stuntman, and pioneer special effects artist Coy Watson Sr. They lived by Mack Sennett's studios in the old Edendale area of Los Angeles, California and Delmar attended Belmont High...
, Chester GanChester GanChester Gan or at times Chester Gann was an American actor of Chinese descent. If there was a quintessential Asian John Smith character, then Chester Gan was that person...
, George MelfordGeorge MelfordGeorge H. Melford was an American stage and film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.-Career:...
, Robert McKenzieRobert McKenzie (actor)Robert McKenzie was an Irish film actor. He appeared in over 310 films between 1915 and 1946.McKenzie was married to actress Eva McKenzie until his death from a heart attack in 1949. The two appeared as husband and wife in The Three Stooges film The Yoke's on Me...
, James C. MortonJames C. MortonJames C. Morton was an American character actor. He appeared in 187 films between 1922 and 1943.-Career:...
, Slim GautSlim GautSlim Gaut was an American film actor. He appeared, unusually uncredited, in over 15 films between 1940 and 1956.Modern viewers may recognize Gaut as Shemp Howard's first dental patient in the film The Tooth Will Out....
, Lloyd Ingraham, Ben HallBen Hall (actor)Benjamin Joseph Hall was an American actor who started performing as a boy and worked for three and a half decades, mainly in small parts....
, Hank BellHank BellHank Bell was an American film actor. He appeared in 371 films between 1920 and 1952.He was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
, Lane ChandlerLane ChandlerLane Chandler was an American actor specializing in Westerns.-Early life:He was born as Robert Chandler Oakes on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse rancher. At an early age, the family relocated to Helena, Montana, where he graduated from high school...
Reception
My Little Chickadee was the most successful film of 1940 after Gone with the WindGone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, despite only mediocre reviews from critics. It grossed upwards of $20 million in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alone, an outstanding amount at the time.
Popular culture references
- "My little chickadee" is the catchphrase most associated with W. C. Fields. He first used it during a scene in If I Had a MillionIf I Had A MillionIf I Had a Million is a Paramount Studios anthology film. There were seven directors: Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Stephen Roberts, Norman Z. McLeod, James Cruze, William A. Seiter, and H. Bruce Humberstone...
(19321932 in film-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) to address co-star Alison SkipworthAlison SkipworthAlison Skipworth was an English stage and screen actress. She was born Alison Mary Elliott Margaret Groom in London....
. - "Come up and see me sometime" is an extremely famous misquotation of Mae West in She Done Him WrongShe Done Him WrongShe Done Him Wrong is a Pre-Code 1933 Paramount Pictures comedy romance film starring Mae West and Cary Grant. Others in the cast include Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., Louise Beavers and Rochelle Hudson....
(19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
). The actual line was "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The misquotation has even been used in the Tom and JerryTom and JerryTom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
short, Mouse TroubleMouse TroubleMouse Trouble is a 1944 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 17th Tom and Jerry short produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music by Scott Bradley . The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Ken Muse and Pete Burness...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
). - My Little Chickadee was Mae West's first screen performance since Every Day's a HolidayEvery Day's a HolidayEvery Day's a Holiday is a comedy film starring and co-written by Mae West, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film, released on 18 December 1937, also starred Edmund Lowe, Charles Winninger, and Charles Butterworth...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) for Paramount PicturesParamount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. This was her only performance for Universal, which now owns most of the pre-1950 Paramount film library. - W. C. Fields also starred in a series of comedies for Paramount in the 1930s. This was his second performance for Universal.
- Margaret HamiltonMargaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, which was released the year before this film. Fields had been considered for the role of the Wizard, but he declined the opportunity and My Little Chickadee was the film chosen to feature both actors.